Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Sometimes I hate the color YellowIf you have allergies to ragweed, you might have noticed (as I have) that those beautiful yellow flowers that flourish everywhere this time of year are slowly dying. Their vivid color is fading to dull mustard and my blood doesn’t boil as much when I see them painting the ditches on the sides of the road. Know what that means? I’m not feeling so miserable anymore and have been able to go “diving” with Elijah five times now. The first time was the hardest. I have to admit, I was a little scared to do it. It’s kind of like getting into a large garbage can (okay, a really large garbage can) and knowing that you can’t get out for a least an hour. It’s certainly not an activity to be done by someone who suffers from claustrophobia.

Once you get used to your ears popping for those first few minutes, it’s not so bad, but being in a hyperbaric chamber is definitely not my favorite activity. An hour is a long time to try to hold onto a squirmy baby who loves to jump and doesn’t like to sit still. If we’re lucky, Elijah will take a nap, which makes the time in the tube much easier. Overall, I’m feeling really grateful to Andy for doing the majority of the dives so far and I’m also thankful that I am now able to do it.

Over half-way thereThe time is starting to go by fast. We have now completed 27 dives and I have so many mixed feelings about it. Is it or is it not working? I really think it is doing something. It’s not the miracle I couldn’t help but hope for, but it is making a difference. The other week I was playing patty-cake with Elijah and I could get him to do the “roll it” part without feeling like I was going to tear off his arms. That’s when I said to myself, “Yep, this has been worth it and it’s making a difference.” His tone is looser, he’s using the left side of his body more, he seems much more aware and interactive, and he’s making more noises.

The other day on the way home from church, Elijah was really hamming it up. He was laughing and making all sorts of squealing noises. It was so fun to watch him as he’d surprise himself and get this look on his face like, “Um, was that me who made that noise?” It’s so cute.

Any More crawling?Our little stinker hasn’t crawled since that night I wrote the rooster update. I knew that would happen. I thought to myself, “I’ll write this and then he won’t do it again for a really long time.” I hate it when I am right about such things.

Elijah is so close to doing it, though. He loves to be on his hands and knees and gets into that position by himself often and does so easily. It’s obviously no longer a matter of if he will crawl, but rather when. Any day now I expect to be chasing him all over. Oh, how I dream about that moment when he’s able to move from room to room on his hands and knees; it’s so exciting! He’s taken those first steps; he just needs to do so more often. Either way, he continues to gain strength doing baby push-ups and bouncing.

A New SkillThis past Friday night, Elijah was able to get himself into the sitting position by himself…twice! And, in typical Elijah fashion, he hasn’t done it since. Again, it’s only a matter of time until he does these things easily on a daily basis. I hope I never forget how hard he has worked to get here. It has been months of therapy to get him to do these things. Compared to a “typical” child, this may seem like a long time. In reality, though, it’s amazing how far Elijah has come in such a short amount of time.

Dr. Nice Guy’s ReportWe received a report this week from Dr. Nice Guy. It was three pages long, but I thought I’d share this paragraph with you all…

“Elijah was seen and examined today by Dr. [Nice Guy]. He discussed the definition of cerebral palsy. Elijah appears to be doing quite well given his diagnosis. He is a very happy baby and [is] making some nice motor and other functional gains.”

I thought that paragraph summed up our appointment with Dr. Nice Guy well. This is the closest the medical profession can get to calling Elijah a miracle. We’ll take it. ~I hope this finds you all well. :) Love from the three of us~

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About Elijahland

This is a story of overcoming the odds, putting trust in God, and the miracle of prayer. Our son, Elijah, was born in August of 2007. As a result of the oxygen deprivation that occured during his birth he spent his first three (agonizing) weeks in the hospital. When he was seven days old, we were told that Elijah had "severe brain damage" on both sides of his brain. At that moment we entered Elijahland and we've been here ever since. We're learning to live with the diagnoses Elijah has started to accumulate, but mostly we're grateful that God chose us to be his parents. It is truly a privilege to live in Elijahland with our handsome boy. Thanks for visiting.